


Home Is Where The Heart Is

by randomrambler



Category: Shadowhunters (TV)
Genre: Alec is a worried boyfriend, Alec is a worried brother, Alec is about to dismantle the Clave, Canon Compliant, Fluff, M/M, Madzie makes everyone happy, Magnus Bane is a sweet uncle, Set in 3x11, Tooth-Rotting Fluff, Uncles babysitting, and even more fluff, i don't know how to tag, jace is mentioned, oh did I mention fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-03
Updated: 2019-03-03
Packaged: 2019-11-08 20:23:13
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,448
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17987945
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/randomrambler/pseuds/randomrambler
Summary: Damn it, Alec thought, giving in to the pressures of his mind, I’ll just call them, just to say hi, cos it’s not like I don’t miss them anyway. He takes out his phone, pulls up Magnus’ number and makes the call, already practicing his excuses for checking in, but the phone rings out and Magnus never answers.AKA a day in the life of Alec Lightwood while Magnus is babysitting Madzie in 3x11.





	Home Is Where The Heart Is

**Author's Note:**

  * For [spncralexis](https://archiveofourown.org/users/spncralexis/gifts).



> This was inspired by Alec always at his desk in the office when he could be home having the time of his life with his husband-to-be and their god-daughter (I said what I said). It's also a birthday present for a truly special human, who deserves everything good and amazing in this universe.
> 
> Happy birthday Spencer! You are a light in my life and I hope you enjoy this as much as I enjoyed writing it.

Alec is sitting at his desk reviewing the report of the last mission to recapture one of the escaped downworlder prisoners from Alicante. It’s been written by Izzy so it’s beyond competent,  but he notices that she has conveniently left out the part about Jace charging the seelie like a madman with a death wish. He sighs, because while he hadn’t asked her to cover for Jace, he is grateful he doesn’t have to put his brother’s unstable behaviour down on record for the consul and her cohorts to dissect and possibly use as another weapon against his family. If Izzy hadn’t left it out of the official report before sending it to him, he doesn’t think he would have been able to omit it. Alec can feel a slight headache coming on and turns his attention to the other thing that’s been on his mind all morning. Since he’d left Magnus and Madzie at home, he’d been fighting off the urge to check on them and make sure everything was going alright. This was Magnus’ first time babysitting Madzie since his encounter with Asmodeus and his sacrifice of his magic, and Alec couldn’t help the slight apprehension that had been building in the back of his mind since he got to work.

_Damn it_ , Alec thinks, giving in to the pressures of his mind, _I’ll just call them, just to say hi, cos it’s not like I don’t miss them anyway_. He takes out his phone, pulls up Magnus’ number and makes the call, already practicing his excuses for checking in, but the phone rings out and Magnus never answers. Alec tries again but before he can make a third attempt, Izzy comes into the office and draws his attention with the news that their latest seelie fugitive has made allegations of torture against the Clave. In light of everything they have witnessed in the last few months, Alec can’t say he’s exactly shocked at this, but he also refuses to blithely accept the word of an escaped criminal about the Clave, even if he files this information in his mind to deal with later. Once that meeting is finished, he makes another attempt to reach Magnus and Madzie and this time leaves a message when Magnus fails to answer the phone again.

“Hey,” Alec says into the phone, working hard to hide the growing panic in his voice, “I just wanted to see how you guys are doing. It’s been a dull day of Clave nonsense here and honestly, I just wish I was home with you two. Maybe you can call me later and we can actually talk. I love you.”

It’s not the same thing, but in spite of Magnus’ ridiculous outgoing message about what an outdated platform voicemail is, Alec knows he’ll appreciate the message anyway. Making the decision to move on to the next thing on his agenda, it’s well past one o’clock and Alec is in the middle of discussing security strategy with Underhill when his phone buzzes and he immediately lunges for it, hurriedly gesturing for the other shadowhunter to leave the office with barely a hint of an apology.

“Magnus,” he almost yells into the phone, “h-how are you? Is everything alright?” Alec winces when he hears his own voice. One would think he didn’t trust Magnus to manage a day with their little warlock houseguest without him.

“Alexander,” Magnus chuckles, “everything is fine. Madzie and I have had a most productive morning. I was just returning your call, and I wanted to say I wish you were home with us too.”

Alec can hear the smile in Magnus’ voice, as well as Madzie in the background, faintly reciting something that sounded like a spell.

“Oh, well I promise I will be out of here soon and you can tell me about your day in person,” Alec says softly.

“You needn’t hurry on our account, Alexander.” Magnus replies, “but we’d appreciate it if you could make it in time for dinner… and if you brought dinner with you… and dessert too.”

Alec laughs at that and promises to make it home and they settle on pizza and gelato from the little Italian place near the loft before he hangs up, already feeling the unconscious weight he’d been carrying all day melt away from his shoulders with a smile on his lips. It’s a moment before he remembers that he was actually in the middle of serious institute business before the call and he leaves his office to resume his talk with Underhill.

Over the next couple of hours Alec can barely contain himself as Magnus has taken it upon himself to keep him well and truly updated about his activities with Madzie in every sense. He’s been flooded with a series of pictures detailing their routine and with each one that arrives, his smile grows wider and his desire to be home, stronger. Magnus has sent him pictures of Madzie attempting to give him a professional manicure, which may or may not have left nail polish all over his hands. Alec chuckles in the middle of a mission briefing with two random shadowhunters when Magnus’ first set of pictures come in and he doesn’t have the willpower to leave them until after his meeting. He outright laughs when Magnus sends him another picture of himself apparently modelling several outfits and makeup for Madzie which she insisted on picking out and applying herself. Magnus looks like a cross between a vampire and a rejected circus clown but Alec finds it hilarious.

Later on, Alec is having a hard talk with Izzy about Jace’s mental and emotional wellbeing when Magnus sends him a message saying he was outlawing this sort of play until further notice because “ _did Alec know how much effort went into makeup removal when you didn’t have magic?!?!? A LOT._ ” He informs Alec that he would now be teaching Madzie a few innocuous spells, first and foremost, his cleaning spell, which she was close to mastering, as long as Alec was willing to overlook the small fire in the living room. It’s not easy to bring his mind out of the darkness he was falling into with everything happening with his parabatai, but that message along with the accompanying pictures of the failed cleaning attempt remind Alec of the joy in his heart that he’s been holding onto all day through all of Magnus’ messages and pictures and even the first phone call. He smiles and shows Izzy the message just to share that moment with her because he can see that while his own burden may have lightened, she’s been lugging around the responsibility for their brother and the pain of Clary’s death like ankle weights that have only grown heavier with each passing day.

“I’ll talk to him, Iz. I promise.” Alec reassures her, “I know this has been a lot for you and I know we haven’t really talked about how you’re dealing with all of it, but I need you to know that I’m here for you too, little sister.”

“I know that, Alec.” Izzy says, “Thank you for having our backs.”

Izzy hugs him and smiles at that, the first proper smile Alec has seen on his sister’s face in days and it warms his heart to see her eyes light up as she grabs his phone to go through all the pictures Magnus has sent him for the day, laughing and making notes to borrow one of the jackets Madzie had Magnus model for her.

By the time Magnus sends a message letting Alec know that they were about to attempt making sugar cookies, Alec knows it’s past time to go home. It’s almost dusk and he has to swing by the pizza place to get dinner and dessert before going home. He heads Izzy off as she walks into his office, letting her know that he’s done for the day and he was supposed to be home at least an hour ago, in a perfect world. Refusing to be deterred, he tells her to keep whatever it is until tomorrow because Raziel knows, there’s been more than enough for them to deal with today.

Alec walks out of the institute and onto the street with renewed vigour knowing what’s waiting for him at home, sending a quick message to Magnus letting him know he’d be arriving within the hour. He can’t hide the wide smile on his face as he recalls his promise to play sharks and minnows with Madzie when he got home, even though he wonders if she’ll be interested after the full day she’s had with Magnus already.  

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you so much for reading this! Please drop kudos and comments if you had fun!


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